I like to say I grew up on the back of a motorcycle. My dad and his stepdad owned matching Suzukis and enjoyed weekend rides in the mountains of northwest Arkansas. I often went with them. We would leave in the early hours before the sun rose high enough to bake both pavement and shoulders. I’d wrap my arms around my daddy’s waist and a bungee cord around mine, secured to the backrest in case I started to nod off on those sleepy Saturday mornings.

It always fascinated me that whenever we’d pass motorcycles coming toward us — usually people we did not know — my dad and the other drivers waved low to each other, a gesture that implied more than a simple hello. It communicated not only acceptance and camaraderie but also an unspoken message: you are one of my people.

When we rode that motorcycle we were part of something bigger, a special club, if linked by nothing more than our chosen mode of transportation. It was a bond which transcended socioeconomic, age, and racial lines.

Last weekend I once again witnessed that old, familiar wave between two motorcyclists, and I couldn’t help but wonder: what if the rest of us accepted each other so readily, without analysis or hesitation? Can you even imagine it?

This week has been rough. Not only am I battling allergies, but a few days of sleeping with my head propped up by three pillows has left me missing my chiropractor. Let’s just say I’m operating at less than a hundred percent. And everything I touch seems to fail. It’s only Thursday and I’m already stunned at the number of things I’ve messed up this week.

Look out weekend!

This morning when I realized two things I thought I’d done right—good things, intended to be helpful—had flopped, I hit enough of a low point that my kids noticed. Before they left to visit my dad and stepmom, my 18-year-old daughter gave me a 30 second hug and handed me two sheets of handwritten paper. After they left, I had a chance to read it.

The first page contained a list of Bible verses related to peace and trust (John 7:37, John 14:27, Philippians 4:6-7) and the second page began with what I sometimes call my life verse: For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7, KJV) and continued with a list how God would meet my fears, followed by a list of my great blessings.

When did my child become so wise? Today it seems our roles reversed.

Raising kids is hard. No doubt. I see friends with little ones or moms trying to survive a trip to the grocery store and wonder how I managed all those years with so many little people. Answer? It was my life. I just did it.

Life stages are different and parenting stages are too.

Sometimes it feels like you’re talking to a wall. Sometimes you want to beat your head against that wall. Is anyone actually listening? If you have the I don’t listen when you lecture (them) / But I’m not lecturing (you) conversation another time you’ll scream.

But sometimes they surprise you, both the big ones and the smalls ones, and meet your weakness with compassion, like today.

So I took a shower, long sniffs from bottles of essential oils known for peace and grounding, and then added the Loyalty blend—because loyalty is one of my superpowers and hopefully something I can’t mess up today—to my diffuser necklace. I love my people and God is good.

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If this is the time for you to get started with Young Living, there’s a great special that ends tomorrow, Friday, July 20th: sign up with a Premium Starter Kit wholesale membership and get a second diffuser and two bonus oils for an addition $38.25. (The Dewdrop Duo Premium Starter Kit can be found in the “Other Premium Kit” section during enrollment.) I would love to add you to our wonderful community of oilers; there’s much support and friendship to be found as you learn more about the gift of oils.

While scrolling through Facebook recently I came across a post from a twenty-year-old young lady, a former student of mine from the Classical Conversations program where I teach tenth graders once a week. Although I didn’t know the young man she wrote about, I could tell he was a dear friend of hers who had passed away in an accident. Later when his phone was returned to his parents, they discovered an alarm on it that asked, “Who did you help today?”

It seemed that this hidden prompt, a daily for-his-eyes-only reminder to evaluate how he was living and serving others didn’t come as a surprise to those who knew him. It made an impact on many, and my former student shared a photo of its impact on her — those words tattooed on the inside of her wrist.

Though I didn’t know him, his story impacted me as well.

I have three alarms set on my watch, inspired by Stephanie Bryant’s devotional in the first (in)courage book, Craving Connection. In it, she encourages readers to set prayer alarms throughout the day. The idea really spoke to me, and since then, my watch quietly nudges me at 10 a.m., 2 p.m., and 8 p.m. each day.

Sometimes I stop what I’m doing and pray. If I’m really busy I may get no further than a simple Thank You, Lord. My favorite is when I’m in the middle of devotional time and the alarm syncs with what I’m already doing; it prompts me to dig beneath the words on the page and connect deeper. Lately, I’ve been challenging myself to pray big prayers because I worship a big God.

But now after reading such a small piece of this young man’s personal story, the question on his phone alarm left an impression on me, someone he never met. I’ve renamed my 8 p.m. alarm. It’s no longer labeled Prayer, but rather, Who did you help today?

Please join me today at (in)courage for the rest of the story as we think about how this question might affect us and how we live our days.

We watched our oldest son’s dog last week while he and his wife had some work done at their new house. One afternoon when I took the dog outside to do her business, I stood under a tree during a light rain and saw several caterpillars, mostly clustered, on a branch.

{My husband later pointed out that they had eaten all the leaves off the branch.}

I went back inside for my camera and took some photos of them (see below), and then stopped and got the desktop calendar photo on my way back inside. I love the look of raindrops in photos and have even taken a spray bottle outside to fake that look, but this was the real deal.

See the streaks of rain?

Take your camera outside to play in the rain (I used an umbrella) and capture some raindrops this summer!

2 days agoby dawncampI found a wink face—;)—in my Bible reading this morning! Think of how many generations read this verse and only saw a semicolon followed by a closing parentheses.

18 hours agoby dawncampAnother set of stats from your slow but steady friend. I walk some of the hills, for there are many, but I don’t stop. And I hit my 180 target heart rate. ‍♀️ I’ve been concerned lately because of a Google search on running with bowed legs—which I and it least three of my sons have—and the findings were depressing. Basically it said that if you run at my age then you won’t be able to walk when you’re old because it will ruin your knees (and hills make it worse, which I’ve already covered). Gloomy, eh? ☹️ I would